When Pigs Fly
by Yagisa
Summary: Kusanagi Mutsuki has always managed to stay in the sidelines , attracting neither good nor bad attention. She was , in all aspects, painfully average. And she was okay with that , really! After all, all she ever wanted in life was to graduate from Totsuki Academy in peace. Unfortunately, things don't always go exactly as planned. Isami x OC
1. Chapter 1

If Kusanagi Mutsuki had a choice, (which she did _not_ ) she wouldn't have entered Totsuki Culinary Academy and would've went to a relatively normal private high school. Unfortunately such matters were rarely ever left in the hands of 15 year olds, capable or not, and thus Mutsuki's parents decided that Totsuki was a better choice for her education.

Had Mutsuki been a rebellious teenager , this would've been the part where she would start putting her foot down and stubbornly argue her disagreement over her forced enrollment to Totsuki. But Mutsuki was no such thing and just simply bobbed her head at her parents and that was it. So being the dutiful child that she was, Mutsuki spent the next week packing her stuff and buying whatever necessities she would eventually need during her stay at the in campus dorm.

The days passed in a blur and before Mutsuki was even aware of it, it was the night before her first day of class and she was feeling a bit nervous, despite knowing that she would just be seeing the same faces again from middle school.

It wasn't like she particularly hated or liked Totsuki Academy. Yes, it was a prestigious school and she knew that a lot of people would kill for a spot in the academy. But while the middle school division was a bit laid back, the high school division was a whole other matter. It was vicious and cutthroat and she wasn't even sure if she could actually graduate from the academy itself.

And all she really wanted was to be a simple pastry chef. But nooooo, being the 3rd child of the Kusanagi family meant either go big or go home and so her parents decided to send her to the best damn culinary school in Japan.

Except of course, there were no specific classes to cater to her particular interests. Mutsuki was sorely tempted to leave after her first year of middle school but stayed the next two years because she had gotten comfortable.

Her parents had unfortunately taken this as a sign that she would naturally continue going to Totsuki for high school as well.

A soft creak snapped Mutsuki out of her thoughts."Onee-chan?" A tuft of blonde hair peeked out from behind the door.

"Daigo!" Mutsuki grinned, opening her arms in a welcoming manner. Daigo quickly ran to her and burrowed himself in her arms. "Ooof! Daigo, wow , you've gotten bigger haven't you?"

Daigo nodded, burrowing himself even deeper in Mutsuki's arms. "Mutsu-neeeeeeeeee,"The boy whined, making Mutsuki's heart clench at the adorable bundle she had in her arms.

Ugh. This was definitely what she was going to miss the most when she left for Totsuki. Bye bye daily hugs from her precious little Daigo. She wasn't even sure if she could survive a week without cuddling her little brother.

Mutsuki briefly wondered if she could smuggle Daigo to Totsuki.

Unfortunately, she was pretty sure that everyone would notice within minutes of Daigo's disappearance from their home.

"Mutsu-nee, why do you have to go live at school?" Daigo's tiny hands suddenly gripped at Mutsuki's pajamas tighter. "Can't you just be driven every day like before? Or maybe I can go with you? I won't be noisy and I'll sleep on time and even give you my pudding! Just don't go!"

Daigo burst into a sob, clutching at Mutsuki, unwilling to let her go. Mutsuki sighed, feeling her heart break into tiny pieces. She hated seeing Daigo cry. Worse, she hated being the reason for Daigo's tears. She ran her hands through Daigo's blonde locks and said,"Daigo, I won't be leaving you forever. Nee-san just has to go live at the dorms because Papa and Mama think that it's a good opportunity for me to be independent. Plus I'll be learning lots of new stuff which means I can make you all the pudding _and_ cake you want to eat!"

Mutsuki made sure to place an extra emphasis on the cake part as she had recently noticed Daigo eyeing the cakes at the pastry shop they frequented.

"…Really?"Daigo sniffled as he shot Mutsuki a wary glance. The word pudding always managed to grab his attention but with the added mention of cake; Mutsuki knew that she was close to convincing him.

A small smile tugged at her lips and she nodded. "Yup. More pudding."

A few seconds passed and Daigo finally extracted himself from his sister and instead plopped down next to her. He swung his foot at the edge of the bed, pouting to himself." Okay. If you say so. Promise to go back home every week okay?"

"I'll try."

"Well, trying's not good enough! You have to promise me Mutsu-nee!"

Mutsuki scratched her head. Daigo could get really pushy whenever he wanted something. When she got into Totsuki's high school division, it wouldn't be some walk in the park and she knew that she would have to spend a lot of her weekends studying. Aside from having a fearsome culinary curriculum, Totsuki's general education classes were also top notch and difficult. But Daigo was Daigo and she wasn't sure if her mental health would survive without her daily dose of Daigo's cuteness.

As much as it pained her, Mutsuki would have to compromise.

"Once a month. "Mutsuki finally said. "I can go back home at least once a month." She knew that she could've lied and said yes to Daigo's every week but Mutsuki disliked lying to him.

Daigo crinkled his freckled nose cutely. "Okay. Once a month then. With pudding when you get home. And not the store bought one!"

Ah. Pudding. Yes. A promise was never done with Daigo unless it involved pudding.

"Deal. But only if you let me sleep right now. It's getting late Daigo and I've still got a few hours before my first day. Unless of course, making me oversleep is your grand plan to make me stay." She yawned.

Daigo just looked horrified at the assumption. "I would never Mutsu-nee!"

* * *

A few minutes after Mutsuki had fallen asleep, Daigo clicked his tongue."Tsk, foiled again."

"Well, at least, she's going home once a month." He grumbled in between spoonful's of pudding.

"Dai-chan! You're gonna get a tummy ache if you eat too much pudding!" A voice called out.

"I wasn't eating any pudding Mama!" He yelled back, quickly shoving the empty plastic into the trash bin.

His mother _tsk_ ed , before barging into his room and smiled. "Right." With a sigh, she ran a damp towel across his sticky cheeks.

And Daigo, as if he were a deer caught in headlights, blinked and grinned. "Whoops."

* * *

Mutsuki wasn't quite sure what exactly to expect during her first few days in high school, but she was glad that some things remained the same. She was put in the same class with a few of her friends and people were still as serious and intense about cooking as ever , except there were more Shokugekis being issued here and there.

But all in all, life was pretty great for Mutsuki.

Until of course, her temperamental best friend Ikumi challenged the new student to a Shokugeki. Mutsuki forgot his name but she did distinctly remember him having red hair and a fiery personality to match. She thought it wise to stay away from such energetic people as he looked like the type to get into a lot of trouble.

And she had never been so right.

"Ikumicchi, did you really have to challenge the new kid?"Mutsuki groaned. "I mean, he's just new and all and doesn't know much about how Totsuki works."

"I guess. But it's his fault for butting into things that don't involve him." Ikumi shrugged, flipping through the pages of that month's Hana to Yume*." It's also a good chance to see what the guy's made of. And you know I love a good challenge."

"What if he backs down though? And gets the Donburi RS president to take the challenge like it was originally intended?"Mutsuki made a grab for the magazine in Ikumi's hands but Ikumi deftly dodged her.

"Then he's not going to get expelled." Ikumi replied, signaling the end of the conversation. Mutsuki wisely decided not to pursue the line of conversation any further as she was aware that Ikumi was fully engrossed in reading the monthly shoujo magazine in her hands. Despite her tough girl persona, Ikumi was a big marshmallow and Mutsuki just loved to remind her of this fact at every chance she got.

In response, Mutsuki would always receive a glare from Ikumi that could send her running for the hills, but the red cheeks that usually accompanied it softened the blow.

A hum escaped Mutsuki's lips as she pondered over their previous conversation. It really wasn't any of her business but she felt bad knowing that her best friend would cause the expulsion of another student who seemed pretty decent, if her assumption of the boy based on the welcoming ceremony was correct. He seemed friendly at least, if not a little over confident. But that wasn't necessarily a bad things in Mutsuki's book.

Totsuki may be ruthless but it didn't mean that it was fair for someone's dreams to get crushed this early on.

And so with grim determination, Mutsuki set out to find the boy.

* * *

This was a stupid idea; setting out to find the new kid proved to be a lot harder than Mutsuki had initially anticipated. How hard was it to find a boy with red hair?

Very hard apparently.

She had searched the first year classrooms and other places first years were likely to loiter around in but there was still no sign of the boy. And anyone she asked would just start ranting about how the arrogant Yukihira boy didn't deserve a place at their prestigious academy and blah blah blah.

Mutsuki spaced out the moment they opened their mouths.

As time passed, Mutsuki felt like it was a lost cause. Yukihira was nowhere to be found and it was about time that she headed back to her dorm anyways. As they say, tomorrow is another day. Perhaps she would have better luck tomorrow.

"Kusanagi?"

Oh no. Mutsuki knew that voice even from a mile away.

Mutsuki whipped her head and out of reflex, cried out. "It's Mutsuki, Takumicchi!"

Takumi frowned as he walked to her with Isami faithfully following him. "How many times do I have to tell you not to call me by that dreadful na—"

"Isamicchiiiiiiiii!" Mutsuki squealed in delight as she shoved Takumi to the side before taking a leap at Isami ."Oh gosh, you have no idea how glad I am to see you right now!"

Isami genially smiled at Mutsuki as she wrapped her arms around his wide torso. "This softness! This warmth! Ahhh~, you Isamicchi are a godsend angel!"

"Oi. Stop ignoring me Kusanagi!" Takumi fumed, moving to Mutsuki who had begun rubbing her cheeks against Isami's. The Kusanagi girl clearly had no sense of personal space and seemed to amuse herself by using Isami as a personal teddy bear. He sent his younger twin a pleading look, _Please shove her away. She's making a scene._

Isami, being the wonderful brother he was, decided to pat Mutsuki in the shoulder and ignore his brother completely.

"Don't wanna." Mutsuki stuck her tongue out, reminiscent of a petulant child. Takumi resisted the urge to strangle her."Do you have any idea about the amount of pent up stress I have from this month? I need my daily dose of cuteness to recharge me, Takumicchi! Or I'll die. Seriously. Luckily for me, Isamicchi's nice enough to give me my daily medicine!"

"Well, I don't care. You're bothering Isami!" Takumi was visibly seething now and Mutsuki took pleasure at this. It wasn't like she _always_ went out of her way just to piss Takumi off, but it was exactly moments like this that made him such a fun target.

"It's really no bother, nii-chan. I'm just glad to help Mutsuki-san." Isami supplied unhelpfully, to which Takumi had shot him an icy glare that said _shut up , big brother's trying to save you here._

Isami just shrugged in response.

"See! Your brother's such an angel. But Takumicchi, you can be such a sourpuss at times!"

A blush crept on Takumi's face as he began spluttering expletives in Italian, earning him Cheshire grins from both Mutsuki and Isami. The two took great delight at watching Takumi get all flustered. It was one of the many things that they bonded on, much to Takumi's chagrin.

"Those aren't very nice words." Mutsuki chirped, finally detaching herself from Isami.

"Wha-how did you?"

"Isamicchi taught me Italian curse words on Line!"

"Isami, you-!"

"She was very insistent, nii-chan."

"Wait. You guys are friends on Line?"

"Yup. D'aaawwww, are you jealous Takumicchi? Want a hug too? Ah. Wait. Nevermind. I don't wanna. You may be a pretty face but that's not enough to charge my cuteness meter." A smirk curled at Mutsuki's lips, infuriating the older Aldini. His face turned as red as a tomato.

"I. Am. Not." He gritted out.

"You're not what? Jealous? Or a pretty face?"

Takumi hissed like an angry cat and nearly lunged at Mutsuki (who simply laughed, still finding entertainment in the situation) but Isami had luckily seen this coming and pulled his brother by the collar."What were you doing wandering at this time anyway?" Isami decided to cut in, taking pity on his brother at last . As amusing as it was to see Mutsuki rile Takumi up, she was probably already testing Takumi's limited patience. If he left them to their own devices, he was certain that their petty banter would soon turn into an argument that involved throwing a lot of sharp kitchen implements.

Isami shuddered as he remembered the last time that he almost got impaled by a fork when he got caught in their crossfire.

Not exactly an experience he wanted to repeat.

"Oh! I was looking for the new kid! Yukihira. You'd think that finding a new student would be easy right? But nooooo, no one seems to have seen him since this morning." She huffed, crossing her arms. Her annoyance at her inability to track down one measly student returned.

Takumi crinkled his nose in disgust. "Wasn't he in the Donburi RS room?" He remembered of course, partially because the whole floor had smelled too much of meat and a combination of other ungodly scents. And mostly because he had seen Mito barge away from the aforementioned room cackling like a mad woman.

Mutsuki's face brightened up considerably."Oh. Really? Thanks! I guess I'll go pop at the Donburi RS for a quick visit so by—gwah!" As Mutsuki moved to leave, Isami grabbed her by her collar.

Takumi raised a brow at this. What was it with Isami and his collar grabbing?

"Sorry!" He shot her an apologetic look. "I just had to stop you before you ran full speed there. I don't think he's at the Donburi RS room anymore, we passed by the room and they were already locking up."

"Ah. That's too bad then." Mutsuki looked crestfallen as she said this and Isami felt a little bad at crushing her hopes.

"Why were you looking for him anyway?" A curious look was etched on Takumi's face. Mutsuki didn't have any reason to seek out Yukihira. As far as he knew, Mutsuki wasn't really interested in the likes of that Yukihira boy. Not that he would claim to know the pesky girl that well.

And so Mutsuki spent the next few minutes explaining the whole situation to the brothers and elaborated about her grand plan of convincing the boy to retract his participation in the Shokugeki. Needless to say, it was not well received.

Takumi, in particular, was not amused.

"Kusanagi, are you an idiot?!" Takumi shook Mutsuki's shoulders. "Wait. Don't answer that. Ugh-! Tsk. Asking him to withdraw from the challenge is an insult! You know that better than anyone."

"I know! But it's not like he's been in Totsuki for long. It's not like he'd know that. 'Sides, I feel bad for him!" Mutsuki blurted out. She didn't think it was _that_ bad of an idea as she had spent a good hour thinking about it.

"For once, I'll have to agree with nii-chan on this Mutsuki-san. Familiar or not, asking him to withdraw is equal to insulting his culinary skills. It shows that you have already acknowledged Mito-san as the superior chef and winner." Isami frowned. "Does Mito-san know about this? I don't think she'd be very pleased if she found out that you were trying to interfere with her Shokugeki."

"Um." Mutsuki blanched. Isami had a point, if Ikumi found out about this, she was in for an earful.

"Just don't interfere. Whatever happens between the two of them has nothing to do you. Mito gave him a way out, it was ultimately Yukihara who decided to accept the Shokugeki." Takumi sighed as he ran a hand through his golden locks. Kusanagi could honestly be such a handful at times. Their constant banter would forever be a thorn at his side but even he couldn't deny that Kusanagi was always well meaning.

Well, not always, but most of the time at least.

Mutsuki dropped her head in defeat. The brothers had made a valid point; it was perhaps wise to simply allow the Shokugeki to unfold. "Fine."

Isami chuckled as he patted Mutsuki's messy nest of dark hair. "It's getting late now, how 'bout we all walk back to the dorm together? I can tell you more of nii-chan's embarrassing secrets."

Mutsuki seemed to perk up at this and Isami was glad that he had managed to distract her, even if it was at the cost of throwing his own brother under the bus. But underneath all the layers of Takumi's _tsun*_ was a soft and fluffy _dere*_ so Isami was sure he'd understand. After all, despite the bickering between Mutsuki and Takumi , his brother really _did_ care a lot for her as she was the closest they had to a childhood friend in Japan.

Try as he might, Takumi couldn't deny the bond the three of them shared.

"Oi Isami, save me from this monkey!" Takumi called out to him, which was soon followed by an indignant _Who the hell are you calling a monkey?!"_

He snapped his head at their direction and found it hard to suppress a grin.

 _This_ , Isami mused, _was perhaps what contentment felt like._

* * *

Hi! This is my first time writing an OC fic and I don't really know if I'm doing this right. I've recently gotten into Shokugeki no Soma and Isami is such a bae! This'll mainly be Isami x OC though I'm not really sure if I'll be shipping Mutsuki with other characters. I'd love to hear from you guys , so please do leave a review.

 **Notes:**

Hana to Yume is a monthly shoujo magazine.

Tsundere= hot and cold, basically one moment they're all tsun meaning they can get harsh and cold but the next moment they're all dere/sweet and shy. Though I'm assuming that a lot of you guys should know what this means by now.

Also, I decided to drop Line (the app) somewhere in the dialogue since Line is actually a pretty popular way for communication in Japan.


	2. Chapter 2

Mutsuki liked shoujo manga. She liked the way it made her heart flutter whenever the heroine got the guy in the end or whenever the guy was sweet with her. In fact, as loathe as she was to admit it, Mutsuki just loved how cliché and absurd her shoujo mangas were.

But that didn't mean that she _wanted_ her life to be similar to a shoujo manga.

In fact, she'd rather _not_ have it that way. Mutsuki just wanted a peaceful high school life and maybe hopefully graduate from Totsuki in three years.

So when she found herself cornered by Takumi's self-proclaimed fan club, she wasn't entirely sure on what to feel.

On one hand, she was morbidly curious on what it was like to actually _be_ in a fan club. What did they even do during their club meetings? Discuss Takumi's hair? Gush over Takumi's pretty face? On the other hand, Mutsuki wanted to laugh at the sheer ridiculousness of it. _She_ was being cornered like the heroines in her shoujo manga.

She would've actually laughed out loud, except _oh shit,_ Mutsuki had read enough shoujo manga to know where this was going.

She was going to get bullied wasn't she? Harassed into promising not to talk to their beloved _Takumi-sama_ (Mutsuki resisted a snort at this.). And if she didn't comply with their demands; they would make her life a living hell starting with putting thumb tacks on her indoor shoes and leaving hate mail on her shoe locker.

"Um," The ring leader, Mutsuki assumed, began. "Are you still listening?"

"Please don't put thumb tacks on my indoor shoes." Mutsuki replied in one breath. "Those look painful. Or hide my gym clothes. I have Iwasaki-sensei for gym class and he's merciless to students who forget their uniform."

"What." A member deadpanned.

Mutsuki frowned. "Isn't this the part where you start threatening me with bodily harm if I don't stop talking to Takumicchi?"

"Why would you think that?!"

The whole fan club looked genuinely appalled at the insinuation.

Huh.

Well, that was…weird.

"Five girls call me out _alone_ to a secluded area to 'talk' .I hope you can see why I'm not really expecting something peaceful to go down here." Mutsuki replied.

The one Mutsuki assumed to be a ring leader gave her an apologetic look. "Sorry. We're all just really shy. We thought that talking to you together would make us feel less awkward. We didn't mean to make you feel intimidated."

 _Oh._

"What do you need then?" They may have seemed a little less harmless now, but Mutsuki wasn't going to let her guard down. If there was one important life lesson she learned from reading shoujo manga; it would be that bad stuff happened when the heroine least expected it to.

The girl on the left shifted, a red flush creeping on her face. "We wanted to ask you for, uh, pictures of Takumi-sama?"

"Yeah, we just wanted to see if you would happen to have good pictures of him, seeing how the two of you are pretty close." Another girl from the right piped in, her face burning another shade of red.

Wow. These girls weren't lying when they said they were all shy.

"I'm honestly confused right now. Shouldn't you guys be threatening me to stay away from Takumicchi?" Mutsuki frowned.

"What? No, of course not! We like looking and fawning over Takumi-sama but that doesn't mean we want to bully his friends!" A girl from behind said. "He's got really few friends as it is and driving them away would just be cruel!"

The fan club erupted in squeals, gushing over how they were the Takumi defense squad.

Mutsuki was still confused. Her shoujo manga knowledge had _never_ failed her. (Except of course, it wasn't like she actually had any chance to apply said knowledge.)

With a sigh, she leaned her weight on the fence behind her and crossed her arms. She patiently waited for the fan club to finish their gushing before turning them down. While she _did_ have pictures of Takumi (some embarrassing, courtesy of one angel called Isami), she wasn't comfortable just giving them to some girls she just met.

Even _if_ they were well meaning.

A few minutes passed and the fan club had finally settled down, a sheepish look on their faces. "Sorry about that, Kusanagi-san. So, your answer?"

Mutsuki made to move away from the fence she was leaning on but realized that something was tugging at her head. She blindly groped at it and found out that her hair had tangled on the wired fence. Damn. This would be a pain to remove.

The fan club, who were quick to notice her predicament had helpfully tried to unknot her hair from the fence but only succeeded in making it worse.

 _This is getting nowhere,_ Mutsuki thought to herself.

Lunch break was about to end and there was really only one way to fix this.

"Just cut my hair."

"Wha-?! Are you crazy? It'd be such a waste!"

"And I have Iwasaki-sensei in twenty minutes."

This seemed to effectively coerce the girls into agreeing but before the scissors could even meet its intended destination, a loud voice startled them.

"What the hell are you guys doing?!"

A boy with bright red hair was glaring at them. Mutsuki felt like she should know him but she had more pressing issues to think about; such as being late for Iwasaki-sensei's class and seriously someone, anyone, just please cut her hair already! No need to get over dramatic over a chunk of dead cells.

The fan girls _eeped!_ before stuttering apologies as they made a dash for it.

"Are you alright? Did they do anything to you?" The boy frowned.

Had this been a shoujo manga, this would be the part where the potential love interest would swoop in and save the heroine from the bullying fan club. The heroine would blush a pretty red and her curiosity in love interest-kun would increase. And as the days passed, she would notice him more and gradually fall in love with him.

Unfortunately, this was real life and there was neither a bullying fan club nor a reason for a potential love interest to save Mutsuki.

With trepidation, Mutsuki realized that the boy had gotten the _wrong_ idea. He thought that he had saved her from the clutches of some bullying fan girls.

Mutsuki didn't know what to say. The boy looked so damn proud of himself for being brave enough to save her from _bullies_ as he inspected her for any visible sign of injuries. She was thankful of course, even if there was no reason to be thankful, but Mutsuki still thought it wise for her to clear up any misunderstandings the redhead had.

After all, she didn't want to paint Takumi's fan club in a bad light.

And so she explained that _no,_ she wasn't in need of any saving and that the poor girls were really just trying to help her out by cutting her hair from the stupid fence. And had he even heard of Iwasaki's terror gym class? It was going to start in fifteen minutes and being a second late would earn her a punishment of fifty push-ups.

The boy blinked at her. "You know, some victims try to hide what their bullies do to them. The teachers here may be harsh but I don't think they'd turn a blind eye if you told them about this."

Mutsuki wanted to sob. Did this boy even listen to a word she said?

A hand reached out to her tangled locks and Mutsuki yelped. His hands were uncomfortably damp!

She hoped it wasn't sweat.

"Sorry." He smiled. "I'd just washed my hands so they're still a bit damp. I can try to untangle your hair if you want?"

Mutsuki nodded, desperate. She didn't care anymore as long as she got her hair free. Sweat or water, it didn't matter much at this point.

Nothing did when it came to Iwasaki-sensei's class.

To her surprise however, the redhead was unexpectedly good with his hands and unknotted her hair within a minute. She gawked at him in awe. "Whoa. Thanks!"

He grinned at her as he shoved his hands into his pockets. "No problem! I can't just leave someone to get bullied y'know? Plus Tadokoro told me that hair is important to girls so it'd be a waste to cut yours."

She nodded absentmindedly, too focused on the fact that she had only ten minutes left to return to the classroom and get changed before Iwasaki-sensei came in. She contemplated just making a run for it but she had unfortunately been raised with better manners.

Fifty pushups it was then.

"And if you'd been listening to a word I said earlier, those girls were just asking something from me." Mutsuki huffed.

"Right." An amused grin tugged at the corner of the boy's mouth. "I'm Yukihira Soma by the way."

"Kusanagi Mutsuki." Mutsuki introduced.

A beat, then, "Wait. What?!" Mutsuki's eyes widened. _This_ was the new kid? She squinted at him, inching her face closer to his. Ah. It was definitely him. There was no mistaking that red hair and scar.

Soma recoiled in surprise, giving her shoulder a gentle nudge to put some distance between them and Mutsuki begrudgingly allowed it.

"I suppose you've heard about me because of the Shokugeki huh?" He laughed as he scratched the back of his head. "Man, I've been getting a lot more popular lately!"

More like notorious, Mutsuki wanted to retort but held her tongue.

Now that Mutsuki was face to face with the very boy she had been resolutely searching for, she was at a complete loss. She had initially planned on making him back down but the Aldini brothers _had_ persuaded her not to.

But a little advice never hurt, right?

"I did hear about it." She admitted as he shot her a toothy grin.

She wanted to ask him if he was really that eager to leave Totsuki or if he was trying to prove something. She also wanted to ask if he genuinely believed that he actually stood a chance against Ikumi.

But instead, Mutsuki said, "Good luck."

Soma's eyes widened in surprise. Well, this was a first. For the past day, he'd been getting a lot of sneers and discouraging remarks (Which he paid no mind of course) from people who found out that he'd taken over the Donburi RS's Shokugeki.

It was a welcome change for someone to wish him luck.

"Thanks!" Soma beamed at her. "You know, lunch break's about to end."

Mutsuki cursed before excusing herself. "Sorry Yukihira I really need to go!"

"Ah. Wait! I'm heading for the same direction too so we might as well make a run for it together." He suggested as he jogged to catch up to her.

Mutsuki noted with annoyance that it only took him five strides to catch up with her run.

She cursed her short legs.

"Alright Yukihira." She huffed. "Just don't slow me down."

"I won't!"

And this was the start of their friendship.

* * *

With great dismay, Mutsuki realized that all her efforts had been for naught. Iwasaki-sensei was absent that day so gym class became a self-study period and everyone was free to do whatever the hell they wanted. Most of the students had left for the kitchen and Mutsuki was not surprised.

"Looks like you made it!" Soma remarked as he reached out to give her shoulder a pat. "Oh. Hey. You okay? You don't look so good."

It was embarrassing but Mutsuki was huffing and panting like there was no tomorrow. Admittedly, she had gotten out of shape, so sudden bursts of physical activity usually left her a panting mess.

"I'm alright." She wheezed in between pants. "Just gimme a sec to catch my breath."

The door to the classroom slid open and Takumi blinked as he saw Mutsuki panting with a concerned Soma hovering near her.

"Kusanagi, you alright?" Takumi frowned.

"It's Mutsuki dammit!" Mutsuki twisted her head to give the older Aldini a glare. "And yes, I'm just absolutely peachy!"

"Oh looks like your friend's here to check on you!" Soma said. "I've still got some errands to run so see ya later Kusanagi! And come watch my Shokugeki too okay?"

Takumi yelled out that _no they were not friends and he definitely did not come to check on her and what even gave Soma that idea?_ But the boy was too far away to hear and so Takumi was left fuming. As per usual.

Takumi turned to face Mutsuki and was about to nag at her but a voice suddenly cut in."Nii-chan, you okay? I heard shouting. What happened?"

"Yukihira Souma." Mutsuki and Takumi both deadpanned.

Isami just blinked in confusion.

* * *

"Ikumicchi, you look happy."

"Is it that obvious?" Ikumi gave Mutsuki a feral grin. "I get to crush someone's hopes and dreams today. Wish me luck, though I probably won't need it."

Mutsuki loved Ikumi. She really did. But it was at times like this that she genuinely did get scared of the girl.

* * *

The Shokugeki had gone a lot better than Mutsuki thought it would. Soma had won and the worst that Ikumi had was a bruised pride and a monstrous crush for the Soma boy. (Which Mutsuki would later on mercilessly tease her for.) All in all, Mutsuki had to admit that she was glad with the outcome; Soma was still in Totsuki and it seemed like Ikumi wasn't that concerned about her loss.

However, Mutsuki got a little upset when she found out that Erina had retracted Ikumi's personal kitchen; but such were the rules and even she was aware that Erina had let Ikumi off lightly.

Nevertheless, Mutsuki still strived to be the best 'best friend' in the entire world so she invited (read: kidnapped) Ikumi over at her dorm for some quality girl time with the promise of lending Ikumi her collection of shoujo manga and rom com movies.

And so after four hours, a liter of soda and a bag of chips later; Ikumi and Mutsuki were sprawled over the floor of the latter's dorm, giggling about the movies they just watched.

"It was so bad!" Ikumi guffawed. "That it was so good!"

"Finally cheered you up huh?" Mutsuki rolled to her side, facing Ikumi.

"Don't get cheeky with me Tsukki." Ikumi snorted. "But…thanks."

Mutsuki smiled. "You're welcome."

"You know, today kinda made me think about a lot of things. "Ikumi suddenly said, earning Mutsuki's undivided attention. "It's just…I always have to be so strong y'know? But sometimes, I just want to be _me._ Sometimes, I just want to sit back, relax and not have to put up so many fronts. But my dad, he's just, ugh, sorry to spoil the mood like this."

"No, it's okay Ikumi, I understand. You can be yourself around me, you know that right? You're my best friend and that means I'll always stick by your side. Even if you can be such a tsundere at times." Mutsuki teased as she reached for Ikumi's hand and grasped it tightly.

A laugh bubbled out of Ikumi and Mutsuki noticed how her eyes were getting a bit wet but decided not to comment on it.

Silence reigned between the two before Ikumi finally spoke up. "He said I was cute you know. Yukihira did. Well, not me exactly, but he said that Nikumi sounded cute." A blush tinged Ikumi's cheeks and she moved to cover her face.

Ikumi could be so adorable without even being aware of it and Mutsuki resisted the urge to hug her.

"You _are_ cute Ikumicchi! You're just too shy to actually show it!"

"I am _not!"_ Ikumi was now sporting a deeper shade of red.

The debate had continued for another hour and only ended when the dorm manager had barged in Mutsuki's room, complaining about the amount of noise and trouble they were causing. She had sent Ikumi away but Ikumi never went down without a fight so after a verbal spar that ended in the dorm manager spluttering at being called a hag; Ikumi finally went home.

Of course, Ikumi's little show of insolence had earned Mutsuki _another_ lecture from the dormitory mother since according to her, she was guilty by association. Mutsuki didn't really mind but the dorm mother had threatened to revoke her kitchen rights for a month if she caused more trouble.

Mutsuki had a feeling that whether or not she caused trouble, the dorm mother would still revoke her kitchen rights.

True to her word, she revoked Mutsuki's kitchen rights when she realized that the girl was spacing out during her lecture.

Mutsuki was unrepentant.

* * *

Mutsuki went to bed that night, thinking that her situation wasn't really that bad. She could just sneak into school and use the kitchen to make her own meals and practice cooking during the month of her kitchen ban.

Mentally patting herself for being so clever, Mutsuki curled up in her blanket and was about to finally fall asleep when she felt something cold and wet hit her cheek.

Her eyes shot open as she hastily ran out of her bed to hit the light's switch on.

 _Drip_

 _Drip_

 _Drip_

The ceiling above her bed was leaking. Drops of water pooled and fell from one specific corner of her ceiling. With a loud creak, the wood that made her ceiling suddenly gave out and water gushed out of the new crevice, effectively soaking her bed and floor

"Cripes," She groaned.

This day was definitely not going in her favor.

* * *

"Look, Kusanagi, there's nothing I can do about your room this late." The dorm mother, Mikoto-san, irately grumbled. "Go bunk with one of your friends or sleep on the couch for the night."

"But Mikoto-san," Mutsuki frowned. "This is a dormitory of a prestigious academy and I assume that most of the students here pay a _lot_ of money that should be spent on the facilities. I'm just wondering why that happened."

"Do I look like a plumber to you? Shoddy craftsmanship, embezzling of funds or bad materials. It can be one or none of those reasons. I'm just a dorm manager Kusanagi, such things are beyond my pay." Mikoto scowled, eager to get back to sleep. "And it's late. Just go bunk with someone and bother me tomorrow. I'll call for a carpenter _and_ plumber first thing in the morning if that'll satisfy you."

Mutsuki opened her mouth to retort that _no that was not enough to satisfy her_ but Mikoto had already slammed the door in her face.

Bunking with a friend it was then.

The only problem was that it was already way past midnight and she doubted that any of the girls on her floor would still be awake. Unfortunately, she wasn't sure if she was close enough with any of them to the point that they would warmly accept her intrusion on their doorstep at two in the morning.

With a sigh, Mutsuki supposed that it wouldn't be too bad if she slept on the dorm lobby's couch. It was soft but old and creaky. She was certain that she would wake up with a crick in her neck. However it was better than nothing at all.

"Mutsuki-san?" A hand touched her shoulder.

Mutsuki whirled a little too fast to face the person who had addressed her, resulting in a fleeting dizziness. "I-Isamicchi?"

"What are you doing out here so late?" He asked, tilting his head to the side.

Even if Mutsuki was dead tired and pissed at her new sleeping arrangements for the night, she still found the energy to gush over Isami's adorable head tilt."D'awwww, Isamicchiii, you're such an angel!"She reached a hand to pinch at his cheeks.

An uncharacteristic frown crossed Isami's face and he gently tugged Mutsuki's hand away from his cheeks. Mutsuki was momentarily stunned as Isami had rarely rebuffed her displays of platonic affection.

"Mutsuki-san," The frown was gone in an instant and was instead replaced with his usual amiable smile. "Are you alright? I don't think you should be out this late."

"What about you?" She shot back, still a little wounded about being denied a chance to pinch his cheeks.

"I'm just worried about you Mutsuki-san."

"…I'm okay. My room's got some pipe troubles so everything's wet now. I was planning on sleeping on the lobby's couch tonight." She shrugged.

"Have you told Mikoto-san?" Isami asked in concern.

"I have. She'll be calling whoever needs to be called first thing in the morning. Hopefully."

The frown was there on Isami's face again.

If Mutsuki was feeling particularly honest, she would admit that seeing Isami frown so much in the span of a few minutes was terribly unsettling. She'd been so used to seeing him smile that any other expression just looked so foreign on the younger Aldini's face.

"You can have my bed then." Isami suddenly said, snapping Mutsuki out of her thoughts. "I'll just sleep on nii-chan's bed. I'm sure he wouldn't mind.

"But Isamicchi, I don't really mind taking the couch. I'd feel bad for kicking you out of your own room." Mutsuki protested even though she was glad that Isami had bothered to offer. The boy was honestly too good and pure for this world.

Isami was such a dear angel. Unlike other certain blonde Aldinis who would not be named for anonymity's sake.

"It's alright. I insist." Two hands were suddenly placed on Mutsuki's shoulder and she belatedly realized that Isami had begun dragging her to the boy's dormitory.

* * *

Isami's room was messier than Mutsuki thought it would be. Post-its littered with reminders were stuck all over his mirror that Mutsuki couldn't even see her own reflection anymore. Text books and other school materials were haphazardly spread on his desk , which made her remember about the math homework due in two days that she hadn't even started on. Oh well, she supposed that she could delay the work for another more day. On his bed were culinary magazines with post-its sticking out from different pages. Isami good-naturedly apologized for the mess as he hurried to shove the piles of clutter away.

Mutsuki just awkwardly stood at the side, unsure if she should offer a hand to the boy. She was worried that she would come across something he didn't want her to see. After all, boys were entitled to their own secrets.

A magazine dropped from the pile that Isami had in his arms and Mutsuki, being the helpful guest she was, picked it up. "Oh, Isamicchi, you dropped your…porn mag." As if on cue, the closet that he had been shoving his stuff into had burst open and revealed a very colorful amount of graphic materials.

The dreaded event happened. She had seen the porn stash of one of her closest friends.

Mutsuki would be lying if she said that she didn't feel the least bit flustered at seeing scantily clad women on the cover. She was _still_ a teenage girl and such things were really not her areas of expertise. However, it wasn't like she didn't expect Isami to be interested in those kind of things. It was a normal part of puberty and she wouldn't shame him for his interests.

Isami turned a beet red (Mutsuki was suddenly reminded of Takumi) and attempted to snatch the magazine from her hands but she deftly dodged him. "It's n-not mine! It's um, nii-chan's , yeah! He just placed it here for safe keeping!"

Mutsuki honestly doubted that Takumi had an interest in porn. The boy was dedicated to his cooking for god's sake! He would probably marry his mezzaluna if he could.

A mental image of Takumi marrying his mezzaluna dressed in a veil made her snicker.

Mutsuki raised a brow at Isami's blatant lie."Riiiiight. You know , I don't think Takumi's the type to share porn with his younger brother." She sneaked a glance at the lecherous material in her hands. "Much less read this Naughty maids in—"

A hand snatched the offending material away before she could finish reading the title.

"This did not happen." Isami averted his eyes, red still dusting his cheeks.

"But-"

"Never."

"Even if-?"

"Nope."

Mutsuki would've teased him some more but since Isami had kindly offered her his bed that night, she let it slide. "Alright." She relented, despite her wishes.

She would just bring it up later on when it was a good time to tease him about it. And maybe Takumi too, if she was feeling particularly sadistic.

An awkward silence fell between the two as Isami began shoving his goods in his closet once more.

"Um," Isami clumsily began once he was done. "I just changed the sheets today so it won't smell funny or anything. Not that it would have any reason to smell weird! I mean, uh I, uh, I-I'll go to nii-chan's room now. Goodnight!"

Mutsuki grabbed Isami's wrist. "Isamicchi wait!"

Isami paused midstride but didn't face Mutsuki.

Mutsuki smiled as she noted that Isami's ears were pretty red. "I don't know what you were doing out at the hall so late but thank you. Really."

An unintelligible grumble came from Isami.

"Huh?"

"I said I was going for a midnight snack." He replied. "And, you're welcome…It's no problem at all."

With that, Isami finally left the room.

* * *

Mutsuki curled up in Isami's bed that night and was pleased to note that his sheets smelled a lot like the laundry detergent her household used to wash their beddings. It made her feel warm and nostalgic.

And with those feelings bubbling in her chest, Mutsuki was lulled into a deep dreamless sleep.

* * *

Meanwhile in another room, Takumi was pacing back and forth. "So let me get this straight. You smuggled Kusanagi into the boy's dormitory and gave her your bed for the night?"

"Well, if you put it that way nii-chan, you make it sound like we did a bad thing. I was just helping her out you know. I couldn't let her sleep on that old moldy couch."

"Y-You idiot! Ugh! Do you even realize the implications of what you just did? What if the dorm mother finds out?!" Takumi scowled, shaking his brother's shoulders for emphasis. Oh god. He was going to go _bald_ early at this rate. Kusanagi was just so _bad_ for his nerves. She didn't even have the decency to spare him her shenanigans during his sleep.

"To be fair, she _did_ tell Mutsuki-san to bunk with a friend. And I'm confident that Mutsuki-san considers me as her friend." Isami, the ever loving idiot of a brother, helpfully replied.

Takumi wanted to bash his head at the nearest wall.

"That's not the point! She's a _girl_ sleeping in the _boy's_ section. The dorm was split up into sections for a reason."

Isami shrugged, uncaring. "Mutsuki-san didn't seem that bothered about those details."

"Of course she wouldn't be. That monkey's denser than a pine forest." Takumi glowered.

"Relax, nii-chan. Mutsuki-san's been our friend for a long time, it'll be just like the sleepovers we threw when we were younger." Isami tried to placate his brother.

"Except we're not in the same room and she's surrounded by a number of unknown boys on all sides." Takumi deadpanned.

Isami paused , and turned a horrified look at his brother , who nearly wept for joy. He _finally_ got it.

Takumi, honestly, had no issues about sleeping in the same room with Mutsuki as she was _just_ Mutsuki. She had been a friend to the brothers for a long time now and so he wasn't that overly conscious in her presence and vice versa. However ,it was a different matter altogether when she was sleeping in a dormitory full of unknown boys whose intentions he couldn't ascertain.

She could be irritating as hell but he _did_ have a measure of protectiveness for her. However he would rather die than admit that to anyone.

Isami groaned as he finally relented. "Fine. I'll wake her up early tomorrow and bring her back to her room unseen. Happy now?"

"Yeah." Takumi nodded , slumping on his bed. Ah, sweet bliss. He never knew that lying down could be this blissful. A few minutes passed and Takumi had finally fallen asleep, soft snores escaping him.

With a sigh, Isami plopped next to his brother, wanting to get as much as sleep as he could in the limited time he had.

Tomorrow was going to be a long day.

* * *

Hi guys! Here's chapter 2 of When Pigs Fly! Sorry if it seems a little slow to start but I just really want to develop my characters alongside the ships. At this point in time, Mutsuki does _**not**_ have romantic feelings for Isami. She may have some feelings but she's too dense to realize it at this point. So all her affection for Isami is purely platonic (or so she likes to tell herself.)

I'm only at around 50 chapters or so in the manga so if I get anything wrong, please don't hesitate to correct me or point it out. Just be nice about it okay?

Also, this fic **won't** be a retelling of all the chronological events in Shokugeki no Soma. I'll be glossing over on a lot of parts and diverge a bit from the events in order to develop the relationships between the characters.

I'll try to update at least twice or thrice a week.

And please do leave a review! Your reviews motivate me into writing more of When Pigs Fly!


	3. Chapter 3

**IMPORTANT NOTE: Please read the earlier chapters !** I changed and fixed A **LOT** of details in chapter 1 and 2 , so you might be a little lost when you read this chapter.

* * *

The Aldini brothers, according to those who knew them, were as different as night and day. The older Aldini, Takumi, was hot blooded, perpetually disgruntled and had a tendency to come off as arrogant and rude; even if it _was_ for a well-founded reason. The younger Aldini; Isami, however, was of a much calmer and friendlier temperament; he was sociable _and_ nice, even to those he considered his rivals.

But contrary to popular belief, the brothers _did_ share a lot of similarities. Far more than both liked to admit. Alas, such was the unfortunate truth of coming from the same gene pool.

So when Isami tiptoed to his room that morning to wake Mutsuki up, he found himself burning a bright red (that could rival Takumi's most intense of blushes) at seeing her curled up on his bed.

Isami was silently thankful that there was no one around to see this momentary display of Takumi like behavior. He still had a reputation to keep.

The boy spared a glance at his bed once more, resolutely avoiding looking at anywhere else but Mutsuki's face. (He had failed, of course, because while curiosity did indeed kill the cat, satisfaction brought it back. And one of Isami's greatest character flaws was his curiosity.) He noted that her shirt had ridden up, exposing an expanse of smooth skin. And if he looked any closer (Which Isami would vehemently deny until the end of days) he would've noticed a pink strap peeking from underneath her shirt's collar.

Sometimes, Isami mourned, he _hated_ being a teenage boy full of hormones who paid extra attention to such details.

In his defense though, it wasn't really at a level that would be considered indecent. It was just an inch or two of bare skin! Back in Italy, he had seen much more women dressed in less and he didn't even bat an eye so he didn't know _why_ seeing his friend like this bothered him.

Isami concluded that it was perhaps because he was a healthy teenage boy. Nothing more.

As much as Isami would've loved to just watch the rhythmic rise and fall of Mutsuki's chest as she slept (In a totally non creepy way, he tried to convince himself.), he needed her to get back to her own room before anyone else found out that she was smuggled (As Takumi had eloquently put it) into the boy's dormitory. So with a heavy heart, Isami shook her shoulders. "Mutsuki-san, it's time to wake up."

"Nnngghh…Five more minutes. Still too sleepy." Mutsuki groaned, ducking her head under his blanket. Isami felt his heart skip a beat for unknown reasons but ignored it in favor of his current task. He nudged her shoulders again, this time a little more insistent. To his dismay, only soft snores greeted him.

Isami racked his brain for ideas and a mischievous grin spread on his face as he thought of a surefire way to get Mutsuki up.

He inched towards her, drawing his face closer to her ear before blowing a puff of air.

Mutsuki's reaction did not disappoint.

"GYAAAHHH!" Mutsuki squeaked as she slapped a hand to her ear. In her extreme surprise, she had managed to tangle herself in Isami's blankets and rolled off his bed in one swift motion."Wha—What the heck?!"

Sleep was still heavy in Mutsuki's system but she tried to blink it away, heavily concerned at the perceived threat to her ears. She frantically looked around the room, finding the source of danger but saw nothing out of the normal. Her eyes finally landed on Isami who was silently shaking and she blinked owlishly at him. "Bwuh? "

Oh god. Isami just _couldn't_ take it anymore. He burst into a fit of laughter, arms curled around his torso."Hahaha! Oh man, Mutsuki-san, you should've seen your face! Pfft-! It was priceless!" Isami couldn't help it. Really! His mother may have raised him to be a gentleman but Mutsuki just looked absolutely ridiculous with her messy hair sticking in all directions and a trail of drool at the corner of her mouth.

The whole time Isami laughed, Mutsuki just stared at him as if he had grown another head. But the realization that it was _Isami_ who had blown into her ear dawned on her and she huffed out. "That wasn't very nice."

Isami shot her a boyish grin, having recovered from his laughing fit. "I know."

Mutsuki attempted to give him her best glare but the effect was ruined due to her rolled out of bed _literally_ look , which unfortunately earned her another bout of laughter from the boy.

"S-S—Pffftt! Sorry!" He said in between laughs.

It was honestly hard to stay mad at Isami when he was being so _nice_ about making fun of her.

So she shot him a cheeky grin instead."Haha, very funny Isamicchi. I'll be sure to repay this in kind in the near future."

"I know you will." Isami replied, his laughter finally subsiding into soft snickers. "Anyways, I'm sorry about this but nii-chan said that it's best if you get back to your dorm now. Something about having a girl in the boy's dormitory would cause trouble and stuff."

"Okay." Mutsuki shrugged, moving to extract herself from the blankets she was tangled in. Takumi did sort of have a point there. But then again, it was just Isami so she wasn't _that_ overly concerned about sleeping over in his room. Takumi and Isami were like family to her, with Takumi being that _one_ cousin whom everyone teased. Everybody in Totsuki were more or less familiar with each other so she didn't think that they would find it odd that she slept over at Isami's room.

But it was better to be safe than sorry, so Mutsuki supposed that there was no harm in going back to her room a little earlier.

"Let's go then," Isami opened his door and Mutsuki followed right after she had tidied up his bed.

The walk back to Mutsuki's room was silent as both Totsuki students still felt a little bit groggy and were not inclined to talk much. After the duo finally reached their destination, Isami gave Mutsuki a curt nod before going back to his own room.

To Mutsuki's dismay, everything was _still_ wet and did not dry up during her brief stay at Isami's bedroom. None of her furniture was salvageable at this point and she mentally noted that she would probably need to replace all of them once her room was fixed. Luckily, her school items and uniform were still dry so Mutsuki thanked whatever higher being was up there.

* * *

Mikoto-san did _not_ end up calling a plumber and carpenter first thing in the morning like Mutsuki expected her to. In fact she wasn't even awake when Mutsuki left for school, leaving the girl feeling a little snappish as she attended her classes.

Her bad mood had extended to that afternoon as well as she was polishing her cooking skills in preparation for the school camp. She was aggressively beating the eggs (In her mind, it was Mikoto-san) when the door to the campus kitchen open.

"Whoa, what did those eggs _do_ to you?"

Mutsuki turned to glare at the newcomer to retort that _it's none of your business thank you very much and this kitchen is occupied, please leave_ but snapped her mouth shut because saying that wasn't very nice. So instead she said, "Nothing." And resumed her massacring of the eggs.

A beat then, "What are you even doing here Yukihira?" Mutsuki didn't mean to sound rude but fifteen whole minutes had passed and Soma didn't look like he was going to leave anytime soon, contenting himself with simply watching her.

It was honestly a little unnerving at how intense his stare was.

"The sweet smell drew me here." He replied as if he were a stray dog.

Mutsuki shrugged and resumed her task.

"What are you making?" Soma suddenly asked as she stirred the syrup mixture in the pan.

"Guimauve" She replied, scrunching up her nose in concentration.

"What's that?" Soma dipped a finger on one of the many bowls that surrounded her and brought the appendage to his mouth. He frowned. "Roses?"

Mutsuki looked at him, horrified. That rose syrup was expensive! Okay so maybe she didn't pay for it herself, but she wasn't just about to allow him to waste the rose syrup she had painstakingly begged her parents to acquire. "Don't do that!" She hissed, giving his hand a light slap.

Soma actually looked guilty as he placed his arms in front of him in a placating manner. "Sorry. I was just curious! I don't really get to see a lot of these fancy ingredients every day. I guess I got carried away."

At that statement, Mutsuki felt a little bad for snapping at him. "It's alright. I'm sorry for slapping your hand too. Today's just been such a bad day for me. You're welcome to watch me work, but I guarantee you that it won't be any fun."

Soma beamed at her as he nodded his head furiously. His excitement reminded her of a kid who was about to go to a field trip. She chuckled at the thought.

To Mutsuki's surprise, Soma patiently and silently watched her work. After the rose syrup incident, he didn't distract her anymore and she nearly forgot about his presence until he spoke up again an hour later. "You done?"

The piece of parchment paper carefully dangled in her hands as she struggled to place it atop the pan. "After I place this, yes." The paper finally met the pan and Mutsuki mentally danced in happiness. "Aaaand, done!"

Soma moved to peek at her handiwork, a frown creasing his eyebrows. He stared at her. "That's it?"

"Yeah, I need the mixture to sit for a day before I can do anything else." She pulled another pan, seemingly out of nowhere. "These are yesterday's batch that I'll be working on today. See? These ones have already cooled down compared to those." She pointed at the pan she had just previously covered. He nodded, his eyes shining in curiosity as he compared the two pans.

Mutsuki worked for another half an hour while Soma _still_ patiently waited for her to finish. But unlike earlier, he was now asking her different questions about the pastry she was making and was even making suggestions to _spice_ it up. She had to begrudgingly admit that half the suggestions he made were pretty helpful so she neatly tucked those pieces of information away at the back of her mind. The other half, however, was just ridiculously absurd that she absolutely had to try making them at least once.

Soma made an unexpectedly engaging conversation partner.

She was pleased to note that her Guimauve had turned out a lot better and softer than she expected. And being the polite person she was, offered Soma a taste of her creation.

Soma obliged her and took a piece of the soft goodness from the pan. As soon as the treat had pressed on his lips, he stilled; a look of shock on his face.

The Guimauve was so _soft_ ; he felt a blush creep on his cheeks as he likened the feel of Guimauve on his lips to kissing. Soma had (unfortunately) never kissed a girl before because he was too busy and engrossed on defeating his dad that he had not developed an interest in dating. But he thought that maybe the Guimauve was what a kiss would be like; all soft and sweet, leaving him wanting for more, desperate to have more of that sweet bliss. And his need was met as a burst of sweetness melted in his mouth, the softness of the Guimauve pressing against his tongue. It was over before Soma was even aware of it and he nearly whined at the loss.

A moan escaped his lips as he licked up the left over confectioner's sugar on his fingers.

He wanted _more._

Soma sent a pleading look in between pants to Mutsuki and she just meekly pushed the tray of Guimauve at his direction.

He gave her a soft smile and took two pieces, seemingly lost in his own world.

* * *

Mutsuki was horrified.

She had heard about the _foodgasms_ that a lot of people seemed to experience whenever they ate good food but she had never really seen it firsthand this close. Sure, she had seen Ikumi have one during her Shokugeki with Soma and she had even good-naturedly teased her friend about it. But it didn't seem as _dirty_ as it did now.

Mutsuki attributed it to the fact that Soma was a _boy_ therefore his moaning sounded dirtier to her ears than Ikumi's.

 _Perhaps_ , Mutsuki thought to herself, she ought to be pleased since the fact that she had managed to make Yukihira moan wantonly meant that he found her Guimauve delicious.

Except of course, Yukihira was _still_ moaning and she didn't know what to do with a moaning fifteen year old _boy_ and _crap, he's already eaten more than half the tray!_ Deciding that enough was enough, Mutsuki snatched the tray of confections from his hands. She was supposed to give them to Ikumi!

She forlornly looked at her half empty tray.

"That," Soma snapped out of his daze at last, expressionlessly blinking at Mutsuki. "Was amazing!"

Soma's grin was so wide that Mutsuki wondered if it was even humanely possible to have such a large smile. He directed a barrage of questions at her, extremely curious at her process and the sweet's background.

"It's basically marshmallow," She replied, momentarily forgetting about the moaning debacle. "Except I included egg white meringue and rose water. I didn't have rose water so I substituted it with rose syrup. It works either way."

Soma nodded in understanding. "So that's why that weird syrup tasted like roses." In all honesty, Soma wasn't a big fan of sweets. A lot of the confections that he tasted over time were either too sweet or too bland for his taste buds. He wasn't that interested in making them himself as well so he never bothered to learn about everything there was to it but the ones Kusanagi made changed his mind.

His interest was definitely piqued now.

* * *

Mutsuki was just really glad to finally have someone to talk to about making pastries. She loved her friends and all their eccentricities included but none of them shared her passion for making sweet treats. Her best friend was obsessed with meat and her two other childhood friends (Takumi would kill her if she called him that) had an ungodly knowledge about Italian cuisine but could be pretty clueless about anything else.

She initially had a lot of reservations about Soma since he was loud, attracted lots of attention _and_ trouble.

But he was _okay._

Surprisingly.

He was pretty nice and sweet, offering to help her clean up the kitchen once she was finished. Their chat had jumped from one topic to another; Soma an ever inquisitive learner, wanting to know more about everything there was to cooking. She had obliged most of his questions to the best of her abilities and Soma greedily absorbed everything, eager to beat his father with the newfound knowledge he was picking up at Totsuki.

They parted ways at the school entrance with Mutsuki promising to teach Soma what she knew. And _yes_ she wasn't going to back down on her word and _no_ she wasn't afraid of sharing trade secrets since there really _wasn't_ a secret.

With that, Mutsuki's mood lightened up, glad at the prospect of gaining a new friend.

Until she reached her dormitory and the reality of her sleeping arrangements came crashing at her.

* * *

"You're moving dorms." Mikoto-san said, cutting Mutsuki off before she was even able to open her mouth.

"And no, there's nothing to be done about it. Repair guys said that it'll take at least a month to fix the leak and other crap in your room."

Mutsuki frowned as Mikoto-san interrupted her once more.

"Aren't there any spare rooms?" Mutsuki would later deny that she nearly groveled at Mikoto-san's feet.

"Nope."

Mutsuki swore that Mikoto-san actually _looked_ gleeful at the lack of spare rooms.

"Pack your stuff up Kusanagi. You're moving to the Polar Star Dormitory tonight." A gnarled hand shoved Mutsuki away from the dormitory's office door and it was once again slammed shut in her face.

On such short notice, Mutsuki didn't think it was possible to haul all of her stuff over to her temporary residence so she packed all her essentials and some snacks in a large duffel bag. She miserably looked at her sodden room; it may have been her home for only two weeks but it was _hers_ so she felt a pang of sadness for leaving it.

She placed a reverent hand on the wall and whispered, "I'll be back."

The repairman who had been on a break just looked at her weirdly.

* * *

The duffel bag was lot heavier than it looked and Mutsuki's arms ached under its weight.

Admittedly, there were a lot of things that Mutsuki was reluctant not to bring on her first night in a new dorm so it was filled to the brim with a lot of crap, for a lack of better term. Ikumi would later say that Mutsuki's definition of _essentials_ were way off.

 _They're all essential;_ Mutsuki would later defend her actions to Ikumi as she snorted.

With a huff, Mutsuki dropped the bag by the dorm's entrance, opting to take a brief break.

The option to remove the unnecessary items from her bag never crossed her mind.

Five minutes passed, and Mutsuki decided that it was perhaps best to haul her ass to the new dormitory before she lost daylight. Totsuki could get pretty scary at night and she didn't want to get lost in the school grounds.

And so this was how Takumi and Isami found her five minutes later, huffing and panting as she dragged her duffel bag, barely five meters away from the dorm's entrance.

"Kusanagi." Takumi stared at her quizzically. "Where are you going with so much stuff?"

The fact that Kusanagi hadn't even bothered to immediately retort _It's Mutsuki , Takumicchi!_ didn't bother Takumi in the slightest.

Nope. Not one bit.

"N-New dorm," Mutsuki replied in between huffs. Perhaps she should rethink about unpacking her other belongings from her bag?

"This late?" Isami questioned, pointedly staring at her pack. "You know, at this pace, you'd arrive there in an hour."

"Gee, thanks." She deadpanned.

A smirk curled at Takumi's lips as an idea popped into his mind. "Why, Kusanagi, do you need help? You can just ask us you know." He drawled. This was a good time to tease Kusanagi back. She was tired and Takumi had known her long enough to be aware of her snappish and easy to rile up tendencies when fatigued. Plus he knew just how much she hated asking for his help.

Haha. Payback was finally his!

Isami wisely decided _not_ to interfere with his brother's fleeting moment of victory.

Mutsuki growled under her breath. Help would certainly be welcome but asking for Takumi's help would be a blow to her pride. That and she would feel _a bit_ indebted to him and would therefore cut back on the teasing, which was something she could not live with, along her daily dose of cute.

But Mutsuki wasn't Takumi's friend for nearly eight years now and so she devised a devious plan to get back at him.

She dropped the handle of her bag and smiled sweetly at him, sending shivers down the spine of both Aldinis. "Why yes, _Takumicchi,"_ She all but purred and Takumi sorely regretted his decision. "You're such a man, I'm sure a helpless girl like little ol' me could use some help."

Isami stifled his laughter.

His brother was _so_ in trouble.

Takumi gulped, unwilling to back down. Summoning all his courage and confidence, he strode to her direction and gave her bag a pull.

It didn't budge.

He blinked and tried to carry it again, this time using both hands but it still didn't move an inch.

Boisterous laughter suddenly bubbled from behind him and Takumi turned to face his two companions, a red tinge on his cheeks.

" _Oh my god_ Takumicchi!" Mutsuki giggled. "You can't even carry it!"

Takumi had never felt more embarrassed in his life.

* * *

Despite the earlier humiliation, Takumi and Isami still graciously helped Mutsuki with her pack, one strap handle in each brother's hands. Mutsuki had to begrudgingly admit that having the Aldinis help her made her trip to the new dorm much faster.

"What did you even put in here?" Takumi hissed as they reached the dilapidated building. "A dead body?"

"That's rude Takumicchi." Mutsuki scowled. "If I had one, I wouldn't be dumb enough to let someone find it."

Isami snickered.

* * *

The door to the old run down dormitory opened and an old lady (Mutsuki sincerely hoped that she was _nothing_ like Mikoto-san) greeted them, surprised at their appearance. "What do you kids need?"

"Mikoto-san told me that you guys had a spare room I could crash in?" Mutsuki said in one breath.

"Ah," The elder nodded in understanding. "Mikoto called me about it."

Mutsuki's face brightened and she was about to step in the dorm until she was stopped by a hand with a light shove on her shoulder. She blinked. "Um?"

"We have an entrance test you need to pass before you can get a room at this dorm." The old woman cackled. "Make something that'll satisfy me out of whatever ingredients you can find in the kitchen!"

Takumi and Isami bristled next to her with the former arguing with the dorm mother of Polar Star. "That's ridiculous!" He glared at her. "She doesn't need to cook for you to get a room!"

Isami placed a hand on Mutsuki's shoulder in a comforting gesture. She was thankful that the two of them were quick to come to her aid when she genuinely needed it but sometimes, they just made things _worse_ for her.

"Ha! Afraid your friend's gonna lose?"

"She's not my friend! But I'm sure that whatever she makes will blow your mind away!" Takumi haughtily responded, staring the dorm mother down. "But she's not as good as me." He added for good measure.

 _Whyyyyyy_ , Mutsuki wanted to strangle Takumi. He was making things worse for her! Now he's set the bar higher!

Mutsuki wanted to sob. Why was _everything_ always determined by cooking in Totsuki ? She couldn't even get a temporary residence at another dorm unless she cooked.

Sometimes, she felt like people needed to chill when it came to cooking.

But Totsuki was Totsuki and Mutsuki had already (unfortunately) learned to adapt a long time ago.

"I accept." She sighed.

* * *

And that's it for chapter 3!

In case you guys were interested, I got the Guimauve recipe off of google and it's really just basically marshmallow. I haven't actually tasted a Guimauve myself but I got the description of a Guimauve feeling a lot like a kiss from the anime Blood C. So it may or may not be true.

I tried to write the foodgasm that's so popular in Shokugeki no Soma and I'm honestly not sure what to feel about it haha. I'd love to hear your thoughts on it though! I'd also like to point out that I absolutely adore nearly everyone in Shokugeki no Soma! But for some weird reason, Takumi's always the butt monkey of every joke, even though he's one of my favourites haha.

I would really really appreciate if you guys left a review! It motivates me to write more!


	4. Chapter 4

Mutsuki wanted to sob in despair.

The dorm refrigerator was _practically_ empty; with only a bottle of corn syrup , a stick of butter and a package of shelled pecans inside. A quick survey around the kitchen led her to a bottle of whiskey (What kind of adult leaves alcoholic beverage within reach of teenagers?) and that was it.

There was nothing else to find.

What was she supposed to do? Serve the dorm mother spiked pecans?

 _This wouldn't have happened if Takumicchi had kept his big mouth shut,_ Mutsuki sullenly thought to herself. She cursed his hot temper and swore to get back at him at the next chance that arose.

"There's nothing here!" She moaned, slamming the refrigerator door shut. How did this dorm even function on such meager supplies? Did the residents of Polar Star not eat? Did Polar Star even _have_ any residents? But more importantly, did she stand a chance at snagging a room in this godforsaken dormitory?

Probably not.

Oh god. She was going to have to camp out wasn't she? All alone in a tent in the middle of Totsuki's large campus!

What if there were bears?! Oh, _t_ _he horror!_

"I don't want to get mauled by bears!" She cried, earning her twin looks of amusement from Isami and Takumi.

"Seriously. Bears?" Takumi raised a brow.

"You obviously haven't been watching enough documentaries." Mutsuki sniffed.

"Mutsuki-san," Isami began, a patient look in his eyes. "There are _no_ bears in the city."

"That's what _you_ think." Mutsuki huffed.

The dorm mother, Fumio, watched the exchange in delight. "As much as I'd love to watch this petty banter between you brats, if you're giving up then you might as well scram." She cackled. "Just try again tomorrow."

Mutsuki shot Fumio a glare to which the old woman just guffawed at. "What? Are you trying to intimidate me into submission? Fat chance kid."

An eye roll was all Fumio got in response.

With a sigh, Mutsuki took a hair tie from her pocket. She quickly brushed her hands through her hair before arranging it into a mess ponytail. She clicked her tongue in annoyance when she noticed that a stray lock of hair fell free from the tie. Tsk. No matter what she did, it seemed that her hair would always be in a state of perpetual mess.

But that was not the most pressing issue at the moment.

 _Focus,_ Mutsuki thought.

To be perfectly honest, Mutsuki knew that unlike her friends, her culinary skills were at best; above average. She was not as good as Ikumi or either of the Aldini brothers and frequently lagged behind them during practical tests. But in her defense, those three were always at the top average whereas Mutsuki would usually be somewhere below but definitely above the median score. Enough to pass but not low enough to frequently live in fear of expulsion. Regardless, the difference in skills was never a source of envy for her. After all, that wasn't really her goal.

All Mutsuki ever wanted was to become a pastry chef and open up her own shop in the future. She didn't even _want_ to be recognized as the best pastry chef in the entire world (or entire Japan , if you went on a smaller scale). Perhaps it was a lack of drive or ambition on her part, but it just wasn't really in her nature to be so competitive about cooking ; which was ironic considering that she was studying at _the_ Totsuki Academy. One of the reasons she stayed at Totsuki was because loathe as she was to admit it, Totsuki definitely gave her the edge in realizing her dreams.

And aiming to be a chef (or pastry chef in Mutsuki's case) needed no small amount of creativity. Since she was young, she had to learn how to whip something up based on the extremely limited ingredients that she would loot from her pantry. (Of course, most of the time it ended up in a complete failure _but_ that was besides the point.)

But never before had Mutsuki worked with _only_ three ingredients.

 _Think,_ Mutsuki mentally chanted, _think._

But nothing came to mind and an uncomfortable feeling began to form at the pit of her stomach.

* * *

Takumi hovered helplessly around the kitchen as he watched Mutsuki work. He was _not_ doing it out of worry but out of restlessness because he wanted to get back to his room soon. Isami, however, had insisted on staying out of _moral_ _support_ and he had grudgingly yielded to his younger brother.

Takumi cursed his soft spot for Isami.

He spared a glance at Mutsuki as she repeatedly thumped her head against the refrigerator in a state of panic. A smirk spread on his lips and he opened his mouth to tease the girl but a sly look from the dorm mother stopped him.

"Heh. Looks like your friend's giving up." She mocked. "You lot are all bark and no bite."

He grunted.

"Bah! I bet you guys can't even cook a decent meal." Fumio sneered.

 _Whoa._

Did she just?

Okay. That was _it!_ _No one_ mocked an Aldini and got away with it. _Ever._

If it were only Kusanagi's lodgings and pride at stake, Takumi wouldn't have bothered to do anything. He was a firm believer of independence and made it a point _never_ to coddle Kusanagi (unlike Isami) so he usually left her to deal with loss and victory on her own. But when the Aldini pride was at stake, he couldn't just sit back and let things unfold.

"Oi Kusanagi. Stop dawdling and cook something already. If you can get creative ( _too_ creative, he silently thought) at pranking me then a simple cooking test like this should be no problem for you."

Takumi honestly thought that this would help Mutsuki.

Really!

Unfortunately, it backfired and Mutsuki looked at him like he had killed a puppy.

"Uh," Mutsuki whimpered. She knew that Takumi's backhanded compliment was his way of encouraging her but it had only added fuel to the fire; she felt even _more_ pressured. _Nothing was coming to mind!_ "Okay." A weak smile.

Takumi blandly noted that Mutsuki began gathering her ingredients mechanically, a nervous smile stuck on her face.

 _Cavolo!_ He had made things worse! He knew what that stupid smile meant and what it implied; Kusanagi was dead nervous and was ten times more likely to do something stupid.

And on cue, she nearly tripped on thin air ( _How,_ Takumi slapped a hand to his forehead, _do you even trip on thin air?),_ frantically waving her arms to find a surface to support herself. Her hand met the counter top and she caught herself.

From next to Takumi, Isami breathed a sigh of relief as he withdrew his extended arms. "If you don't make it," Isami suddenly piped in, startling him. "You're always free to bunk in my room. But I don't think that'd be necessary Mutsuki-san. Just relax. I'm sure you can think of something."

Both Mutsuki and Takumi snapped their heads to face Isami. _Oh no,_ Takumi thought.

In an instant, Mutsuki's previously tense shoulders relaxed and she made a leap for Isami. "Isamicchiiiiiii, you are an _angel!"_

Takumi had a horrified look on his face as he shoved Kusanagi by the chest (dutifully avoiding the twin lumps of fat on her chest because he _wasn't_ a pervert) away from his brother. He silently agreed that _yes_ his younger brother could be as kind as an angel but half the time, he felt that Isami's kindness was often wasted on the likes of Kusanagi.

Kusanagi, to Takumi's mortification, still managed to cling to Isami (who was clearly enjoying it, if his laughter was anything to go by) despite his attempts at wrenching her away. He groaned at her in exasperation. "Kusanagi , _priorities._ "

Kusanagi simply ignored him and clung to Isami even tighter.

Fumio placed a hand on his shoulder in what he assumed was supposed to be a comforting gesture. "So it's like that huh? You know, it's wise to admit defeat at this point. Seems to me that she's chosen your brother. Don't go breaking your heart anymore kid." She nodded sagely.

The older Aldini stared at her in shock. She had the _wrong_ idea! Kusanagi and he would never -! As if he would _ever_ have such an interest in that uncouth monkey!

Okay, maybe that was a _bit_ rude.

But in all seriousness, Takumi would _never_ be interested in her _that_ way because it would be just plain weird. Kusanagi had always been that one constant friend (he shriveled a little inside at this admission) to the brothers even before they went to Totsuki so suddenly developing feelings for her was just an odd and foreign concept to Takumi that he decided not to dwell on it any further because the aforementioned girl was rubbing her cheeks against Isami's _again_.

"Oi Kusanagi!"

Takumi sighed. An older brother's work was never done.

* * *

Isami honestly didn't think that it was such a big deal for him to offer Mutsuki his room. He had already done it the night before and found it reasonable to offer it up again. After all, if there were no spare rooms in their dormitory and if the Polar Star dorm rejected her then he couldn't just allow her to camp out _alone_ in Totsuki.

His mother _did_ raise him to be a gentleman.

"Isamicchi," A puff of breath tickled at Isami's ears and he nearly flushed. Mutsuki stopped rubbing her cheeks against his and instead inched her face closer. She squinted at him and sniffed.

 _That's odd,_ she scrunched her face in confusion, _Isami smelled like vanilla._ And last time she checked, the boy rarely ever scented of anything but tomatoes.

Mutsuki startled, her eyes widening in realization as she beamed at Isami.

At that moment, Isami could see why Takumi had always likened her to a monkey. The way she hung from him was reminiscent of a monkey hanging from a tree and the way her ears stood out from beneath her dark locks further reminded him of the aforementioned animal. It wasn't bad per se and he even thought that it was actually pretty endearing.

 _Bad thoughts!_ He scolded himself. Mutsuki was a _friend_ and you just don't think about friends _that_ way.

"That's it!" Mutsuki abruptly cried out, finally untangling herself from Isami. "I'm free to use whatever ingredients I can find so long as it's _in_ the kitchen right?"

Fumio shrugged. "Yeah. So long as you can make something. Though I doubt you can make anything decent with just three ingredients."

Isami's heart did a tiny backflip as a soft smile curled at Mutsuki's lips but decided not to think too much about it. It was probably just a heartburn.

"I don't have just three ingredients." She said as she placed a hand on his shoulders, startling him. "I have Isamicchi!"

"What," Takumi deadpanned, slapping a hand to his forehead.

"Huh?" Isami blinked, wondering if there was a joke he was missing.

* * *

Mutsuki grinned, not bothering to answer the three stunned looks that were sent her way. Instead, she patted Isami's blazer and school shirt, groping around in search of a particular item that was crucial to her victory. He yelped , almost jumping up as her hands managed to squeeze at a particularly ticklish spot. A frown creased her face as she belatedly realized that it wasn't in any of his pockets.

So naturally, she moved her searching to his pants.

God was testing Isami wasn't he?

But before he could even do anything, Mutsuki already had her hands in his pockets and was digging through it's contents.

Isami's face turned red in embarrassment.

Takumi, to no one's surprise, was not pleased with the development.

"Stop molesting my brother!" He yelled, making a grab for Mutsuki's wrists; his protective brother mode maxed out.

Isami loved his brother a lot. Really. And he knew that Takumi would die and kill for him in any situation but he was _so not helping out right now._

Mutsuki deftly dodged him as she finally found what she was looking for. She clutched the packets of vanilla wafers on both hands and shot Fumio a victorious smirk. She had a chance now and there was no way in hell that she was going to waste it.

"Sorry but I'll be replacing these later Isamicchi!" She gave the flustered boy an apologetic smile as she dropped the wafers on the kitchen's counter top.

"If I can no longer be a bride, I expect you to take responsibility* Mutsuki-san." Isami sniffled, jokingly dabbing a handkerchief to his eyes. It was a joke, but Isami would probably _never_ recover from the memory of having Mutsuki manhandle him.

Mutsuki nodded absentmindedly, rummaging through her duffel bag in search of the ingredients she was sure she packed. "Yeah , yeah, I'll marry you and buy you a house." A-ha! Found it!

Takumi was gagging in the background while Fumio guffawed.

But Mutsuki paid them no mind as she set to work on the task at hand. She patiently waited for the oven to heat at the temperature she desired while she laid out the pecan nuts on the cookie sheet. A few minutes passed and when she felt that the oven was hot enough, she carefully placed the nuts inside and roasted them to perfection.

Fumio almost drooled at the aromatic scent of the pecan nuts.

Mutsuki continued to diligently work on the confection she was making.

 _Honestly,_ Takumi silently observed, _if she exerted that much effort and expertise to cooking regular dishes she could easily rival the top students of the 92_ _nd_ _batch._

But Kusanagi was Kusanagi and one of her greatest flaws was her one track mind. So everyone just left it at that.

* * *

"It's done!" Mutsuki cheered, sliding the plate to Fumio who merely raised a brow.

The dorm mother inspected the treat that the girl made for her. It was Bourbon balls, peppered with confectionery sugar, chocolate sprinkles and nuts. If she had to be honest, it looked _good_ but nothing remarkable enough to blow her away. She grunted. "Huh. Guess I got my hopes up."

"Just taste it." Mutsuki rolled her eyes. Were all elderly people this cranky all the time?

Fumio reluctantly plopped a piece into her mouth and nearly cried out in ecstasy.

It reminded her of her first marriage that had ended in a bitter divorce. Back then, she used to drink her sorrows away at a dingy old pub, cursing herself for being such an idiot and wasting the five years of her life on _him._ She eventually got over him but the pub had always remained in her heart and she would frequently visit it until it closed down years later.

As she bit into the center of the bourbon balls, a strange flavor burst into her mouth; the taste of the soft butter contrasting with the overpowering tang of the whiskey.

"You," Fumio breathed. "Pass!"

A pause.

"Congratulations." Isami patted Mutsuki's locks as she jumped up and down in excitement. "I knew you could do it." From the start, Isami already knew that she would pass. Despite her one track mind and self proclaimed innate average skills, she really did have the talent for creating pastries. That and she didn't survive three years of Totsuki middle school for nothing. But nevertheless, he still made it a point to congratulate her on her victory.

Behind them, Takumi rolled a piece of bourbon ball in between his fingers and gave it an experimental whiff. After deeming it safe for consumption (he learned _never_ to eat anything Kusanagi made before giving it a once over, the hard way), he popped one in his mouth and frowned. "Isn't this too strong?" He felt his eyes almost tear up at the way the alcohol burned at the back of his throat.

"It is," Mutsuki admitted, finally untying her hair and letting it fall against her nape. "If I left the bourbon balls overnight to wait for the alcohol to soak, it would taste better and tolerable for people who aren't accustomed to whiskey."

"Then why didn't you?" Fumio asked, a curious look on her face.

"Because the bottle of bourbon was half empty. Which means that someone was either using it to cook or to drink . But when I looked through the sink, I noticed that there was an unwashed shot glass. So I took a leap of faith and thought that Fumio-san probably liked whiskey." Mutsuki shrugged. "I thought that you would prefer it if the taste of bourbon was stronger."

"An excellent deduction, Holmes!" Isami joked, slapping a hand against Mutsuki's back. She startled as the friendly gesture nearly sent her face first to the ground.

Takumi merely nodded his acknowledgement. "That was a good call." But was a risky move at the same time. Had Fumio not been accustomed to the strong taste of whiskey, he was certain that Kusanagi's bourbon balls wouldn't be meet with the same praise.

"Oh, wow, this is good!" Isami said in between mouthfuls of bourbon balls. He moved to take another piece but Takumi slapped his hand away.

"Since when did _you_ develop a taste for alcohol? Takumi gave his brother an accusing look.

A laugh bubbled out of Isami's lips before he sheepishly scratched the back of his head. Whoop. Looks like the cat was out of the bag now. "Last time we went home, Uncle took me out for a couple of drinks."

"But we're not even of drinking age yet!"Takumi said, aghast to which Isami just shrugged at. "It was a valuable learning experience?"

Takumi hissed to himself as he made sure to have a _long_ talk with his uncle the next time they went home.

* * *

Fumio gave Mutsuki the keys to room 308 and the girl sobbed in relief. _Finally_ , she thought to herself.

She inspected her temporary residence for the next month and was delighted when she found out that it wasn't as run down ad Polar Star's exterior. In fact, it was nearly as pristine as her old room but there were a few signs of wear here and there. But Mutsuki could live with that as long as it was clean.

Takumi and Isami had bidden her goodbye earlier as they kindly (Takumi complained all the way) brought her bag to her room. But despite all Takumi's grumbling and snapping, he had provided her (somewhat) with help so she begrudgingly noted to thank him for that later on. But as of the moment, she was dead tired and in need of a rest. So in one swift motion, she stripped her blazer off before curling up in her new bed for a short nap.

The rest could wait.

* * *

Sorry this chapter is so short compared to the previous ones! Oh and some stuff I'd like to point;

Cavalo, according to google is in Italian curse that literally means cabbage (lol) but is used as a curse word. And given Takumi's background, I thought that this would fit him?

*take responsibility = It's basically a joke since Mutsuki (kind of) harassed Isami so his purity (?) has been tarnished. So Mutsuki has to take responsibility by marrying him, as it's the most respectable thing to do. It's just a joke of course.

Again, guys, I'd really , reeaaaalllly love to hear feedback from you! Just please be nice about it okay?


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